Maersk Slash Asia-Europe Capacity

Maersk Line has announced that it will be slashing around 16% of capacity on its West Central Asia-Europe trade lane as a result of lower volumes, according to the Journal of Commerce.

This news follows a recent announcement that it had also slashed a service on the Far East Asia-Europe service with 2M partner MSC.

Maersk said: “The closure of the ME5 will result in a capacity reduction corresponding to approximately 16% of our dedicated West Central Asia-Europe service capacity.”

Nils Anderson, CEO of Maersk, said: “We look at our capacity all the time, but we did not expect Asia-Europe volumes to decline one year ago when we planned our capacity; we overestimated growth. This is a slow growth market.”

Maersk Line expects demand for seaborne container forecasts to grow by between 2-4%, which is slightly lower than its previous prediction of between 3-5%.

The company has recently acted on its decision to acquire 11 container terminals from terminal operator Grup TCB under its port arm, APMT.

The move was made to bolster its presence in Latin American markets, where the growth rate is perceived to be high.

Nils concluded that due to its strong financial position, the group are in a good position to invest in new growth opportunities.